There are many different Linux distributions to choose from today. Just go to distrowatch and you will find a large list of different Linux operating systems to choose from. You can choose from popular distros like Ubuntu, Mint, and Fedora or more obscure ones like Puppy Linux, ClearOS, or Mandriva. Some Linux distros are designed for penetration testing (like Kali Linux). Some distros are designed to be used as a firewall or router. However, all of these different distributions are a derivative of Debian, Red Hat, or Arch Linux. In this article, we will briefly examine each of these major Linux distributions.

Debian

Debian uses DPKG and APT as its package managers. And .deb is its package format. Think of .deb files as a Windows .exe file. Debian is known for its stability and has a large library of packages/software and supports a large number of devices. Debian follows the open-source motto strictly and has large community support making most issues you encounter being solvable by a quick google search. Debian is widely adopted for server applications as well as for the everyday use workstation. Shells offers Debian and Ubuntu installations. Debian does not offer a rolling distribution so a newer version will need to be installed.

Red Hat

Red Hat uses RPM, YUM, and DNF (Fedora) as its package managers. Red Hat versions of Linux are widely used for enterprise server applications because of its stability and support. Red Hat is licensed software but because of this offer, it provides it's clients a direct line to technical support. CentOS and Fedora are branches of Red Hat. CentOS being the stable unlicensed version of Red Hat offering only community support, and Fedora being used for the cutting edge of newer Linux software. Shells currently offers a Fedora instance so you can be a part of using the latest cutting-edge software compiled for Linux. Red Hat was recently acquired by IBM and is less strict with the open-source motto. Red Hat does not offer rolling distributions; newer versions need to be installed.

Arch

Arch uses Pacman as its package manager. Pacman is known to be faster than apt (Debian) and yum (Red Hat). Like Fedora Arch is at the cutting-edge of software and is known for using the latest updated Linux Kernel. Arch does not adhere to the open-source motto strictly. Shells offers Manjaro which is a branch of Arch Linux. Arch Linux was known as one of the harder distributions to install but with its gaining popularity and distros like Manjaro that is less and less the case.